


lily pads and wither roses

by itisjosh



Series: sparks [hybrid smp] [5]
Category: Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Best Friends, Blaze Jack Manifold, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Friendship, Gen, Hybrid Niki | Nihachu, Platonic Female/Male Relationships, Sarcasm, aka the fic where niki & jack snark at each other, the adventures of fish girl and blaze bitch
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-11
Updated: 2021-03-11
Packaged: 2021-03-17 15:47:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,050
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29968668
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/itisjosh/pseuds/itisjosh
Summary: Niki squares her shoulders, reaching down for the knife on her belt, right when a stone splashes in front of her.And then another.And then another.Niki sighs, tilting her head back, wondering how life could be so cruel to her. Of course, just when she was finally relaxing, Jack Manifold just had to show up.
Relationships: Jack Manifold & Niki | Nihachu
Series: sparks [hybrid smp] [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2157417
Comments: 8
Kudos: 129





	lily pads and wither roses

Niki leans back against one of her stone pillars, looking up at the sky from below the lake that she lives in. She reaches up, brushing her hair out of her face, letting it flow outwards. She smiles a little, crossing her arms against her chest as she watches the clouds drift across the pale blue sky, disappearing from her field of view only a few moments later. Although she didn't originally want to live here in this little lake, she definitely thinks that it's home now. Niki sighs quietly, closing her eyes as she digs her toes into the sand, swaying back and forth, feeling the water go through her gills, letting her breathe. This entire area is so _nice_ , and Niki doesn't know how she got lucky enough to find it. Well, she thinks to herself a second later, it wasn't really by _choice_. She just needed a place to stay, where she wouldn't _die_ , and this lake sort of just showed up when she needed it most. 

The area above her is full of flowers, and Niki thinks that it's gorgeous. She wishes that she'd be able to bring flowers down into her lake, but she knows it's probably for the best if she just lets them stay above the water, right where they're meant to be. Niki opens her eyes a second later, tilting her head to the side at the sudden footsteps she hears. Niki cranes her head as much as she can, silently cursing to herself when she can't actually see what's behind her without revealing herself. It's definitely not Ranboo - he would have long since announced his presence, and Niki knows exactly what his footsteps sound like. It's not that Phantom from the nearby house with the Elytrian, though she wouldn't mind if it was. She likes the Phantom; he's sweet and sings to her, even if he doesn't quite realise that she's there. Niki thinks that she should reveal herself to him sooner rather than later. It would be nice to have a friend. Niki shakes her head a little, screwing up her face as she focuses back on the problem at hand. She squares her shoulders, reaching down for the knife on her belt, right when a stone splashes in front of her. 

And then another.

And then _another_.

Niki sighs, tilting her head back, wondering how life could be so cruel to her. Of course, just when she was finally relaxing, Jack Manifold just had to show up. "Ayup, fish girl!" Jack's voice rings out in her ears, and Niki really can't help but smile, even though she's mildly annoyed that she's going to have to clean up the mess that he's just made. "I _told_ you that I was coming over here. You did remember, right?" Jack asks, and Niki swims up to the surface, resting her arms on the beach, laying her head down on her arms a second after. Jack grins, crouching down in front of her. "Hi, Niki. Did you miss me?"

Niki still remembers the first time she met Jack. He was half dead, struggling to breathe in the fresh overworld air, having just come from the Nether for the first time in years. He nearly stumbled into her lake, and Niki had to throw herself up onto the land and push him back to make sure he didn't accidentally die. From there, Niki managed to bandage him up and nurse him back to health, making sure that he wasn't going to die anytime soon to anything other than her bare hands, and sent him back off on his way. She thinks that was nearly five years ago now, and somehow they've still managed to stand each other. 

Barely, she thinks. _Barely_.

"No," Niki answers, beaming back up at her sort-of friend. She's not entirely sure what Jack is - a friend, a nuisance, an annoying fucking Blaze hybrid that she has to babysit all the time. All three seem about right. "I actually forgot," she pauses, "on purpose. I try very hard to block you out of my memory, Blaze boy," Niki grins up at the hybrid, careful to not accidentally splash any water up onto the beach. Niki knows how to be careful around both Jack and Ranboo. Both of whom are hybrids that can't touch the water, unless they want to get injured beyond belief. Still, Niki tries to actively be careful of her movement and keeping the lake in the lake itself, just to make sure that her Blaze friend and Enderman brother don't get hurt by a careless mistake. "I thought you weren't coming back for another week." 

"Nah," Jack waves a hand, leaning back up against the tree that covers half of her lake. Niki thinks that she'd like to take it down, but she knows that it protects the Phantom with the guitar from burning in daylight, even though he never actually comes out in the daytime. It's just the thought that counts. Niki would prefer that he has somewhere to go if he gets caught out in the sun. "I figured that I might as well come and say hi," Jack sighs, running a hand through his hair. "'Course, I could always leave. Not really a big deal, I guess I could just up and go if you didn't want me here," he grins, his eyes bright, glowing. "Figured you might be lonely, though."

"I'm perfectly at peace with my own company," Niki snarks at him, though she can't keep the smile off of her face, even if she tried. Jack manages to make her smile a lot, no matter how unbelievably annoying and loud he is. "Any new jobs for you, Blaze boy? Or are you just wandering around freelancing?" Niki doesn't know that much about Jack's past, which is fine with her. Jack doesn't know much about her past, which she assumes that he's fine with. She doesn't think that they have to know a lot about each other's history to be friends. "Find a way to get me into the Nether yet?"

At that, Jack sighs. "Niki, I don't really think that's going to work," he admits with a breathless laugh. "I'd try, but I think I'd just fuckin' kill you. I mean," Jack grins at her, winking. "I wouldn't be opposed to that, if it meant you stopped complaining at me all the time. _Ohh, Jack, why aren't you doing this? Ohh, Jack, go and do this for me. Ohh, Jack, don't stick your hand in the water._ You act like I'm a _child_ , Niki," Jack huffs, scowling at her. "If I want to put my hand in the water, I absolutely will. Nothing can stop Jack Manifold," he grins a second later, "not even myself." 

Niki sighs, wondering when she got here in her life. She's not entirely sure where she went wrong, what mistake she made to meet this son of a bitch. "Okay," Niki looks up at him, swimming away from the spot he's directly in front of. "Stick your hand in the water then, Jack Manifold. What's stopping you? It's obviously not your amazing self-control abilities, now is it?" Jack narrows his eyes at her, but he's still smiling. Even if he wasn't grinning like a madman, Niki knows that all of this is entirely just in good humour. They're friends - friends play up their hatred for each other, it's what makes friendships work. "What are you waiting for, Blaze boy?" 

Jack sighs, pursing his lips as he very clearly weighs the consequences and rewards in his head. For a brief second, Niki thinks that he's actually going to do it, and she wonders if she's going to have to bandage up the burns that he'll be receiving in a few moments. Jack huffs, slumping back. "Nah," he announces. "Nope."

"Nope?" Niki echoes, raising an eyebrow at the man in front of her.

"Nope," Jack confirms with a solid nod. "Not going to do it. Only because you told me do, and I don't listen to _fish people_ ," Jack grins at her, his eyes lighting up. "Mermaids are so boring. Imagine not being able to run around on land without falling over and, what, drowning?"

Niki sighs. "Asphyxiating. I would suffocate to death if I were on land for too long. Imagine not being able to swim," she teases back, shifting so she's on her back, floating up in the lake. She's careful to keep her neck below the water, so she can still breathe. "Blazeborns are so boring. Imagine spending all your time in a literal Hell." Jack laughs, throwing his head back and clapping his hands together, laughing so hard that Niki thinks that he might actually die. Hopefully, she thinks to herself. 

"Now that is just rude," Jack tells her, leaning forwards. "That really does just hurt my feelings, Niki. I think I might actually just cry from that," Jack pauses, screwing up his face. "That was a lie. I don't cry."

"That's nice, Jack. Anyways," Niki looks away, smiling as she does. "Seriously. How have you been doing? I know that it's harder for you to breathe in the overworld than it is in the Nether. You know you don't have to come and visit me, right?" Niki pauses, blinking a few times. "Not that I don't _want_ you to come visit," she clarifies. "But if it hurts you, it's not worth it." 

Jack smiles at her, and it isn't his crooked madman grin. It's just his regular smile, which Niki doesn't see all that often. To be fair, most of their friendship involves them teasing and mocking each other, constantly snarking at the other and making sarcastic jabs and quips. It's nice to be able to be genuine for a moment, even though they can always be genuine with the other. It's still nice, Niki thinks to herself. "'Course it's worth it, fish girl," Jack beams at her. "You're my friend, Niki. I'm not going to sit around in Hell all day do fuck-all. I'd lose my mind if I didn't have someone to talk to. Plus," he shrugs, "you make good company. Sometimes."

"Sometimes?" Niki grins at him. "Only sometimes? I think you'd be lonely without me, Jack Manifold." 

"Ah," Jack grins back at her. "Incredibly lonely, yes. Because, you know, my _entire_ world just revolves solely around you." 

"As it should," Niki laughs, ducking her head. "How long do you plan on staying this time around? For a few days, a couple of weeks? Or are you planning on heading out today?" Jack gives her a half-shrug, and Niki really can't help but sigh. Of course he's underprepared, he always is. To be fair, Niki isn't entirely sure what she expects from him, after all. He's Jack Manifold, he literally never plans anything out _ever_. It's sort of his _thing_ , Niki's long since decided. "You really should come up with a schedule, Blaze boy." 

"Schedules are boring," Jack tells her. "I'd much rather just figure out where I'm going and what I'm doing a couple of seconds before I do it, you know? Makes it so much more interesting. Plans are nice, but sometimes you just have to.." he trails off, a faint smile on his lips. "You just have to fuck around, you know? Go and do something stupid and almost accidentally kill yourself by hopping into a lake, entirely on accident. It's what makes it fun. Makes life interesting." 

"You can live an interesting life without constantly putting yourself in life-threatening situations," Niki tells him, entirely deadpan. Sometimes, she really does think that Jack might just be immortal, considering how many times he's nearly died, and that's just in the time that she's _known_ him. Niki shifts in the water, moving back to rest her arms against the beach. "Alright, Blaze boy. Tell me about your adventures over here." 

Jack grins at her. "So there was this absolute _bitch_ of a Shulker hybrid, and.." 

Niki listens to her friend as he talks, and even though she thinks sometimes that she would like to murder him, she can't help but smile the entire time. They're friends, after all - and what's a true friendship without a little hatred and a lot of love?


End file.
